The Yu Yu Girls Take Center Stage
by Amethyst Lynn Willow
Summary: I wonder what would happen if the girls got off the sidelines. Care to wonder with me?
1. Train

****Curtains Rise, Enters Stage Left Holding Megaphone****

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN YU YU HAKUSHO.** How sad for me.

**Story:** The Yu Yu Girls Take Center Stage

**Chapter 1:** Train

**Characters:** Touya/Keiko

* * *

Today was a great day for celebration; it was the first day of winter, the Winter Solstice. Of course you wouldn't be able to tell it by looking around, for not one single flake of snow had yet to fall. Despite the lack of snow, the trees were still barren from fall and the grass and flowers had long since retired for a season of sleep, but that's not what disturbed Keiko the most. What stood out to her was the sky. It was the haunting icy blue it had turned recently. It was an unnatural color to be sure; one Keiko knew she had seen somewhere before, but she just couldn't place the memory.

Keiko huddled deeper into her coat when the biting wind hit her skin. There was a definite chill in the air as she made her way to the train station to meet the group. Genkai had invited everyone up to her compound for a celebration and to acquaint everyone with the youkai who had been given special permission to live and train there for a time.

She'd finally made it to the station and deliberately took in a deep breath of warm air the second the terminal doors closed behind her. Keiko picked up her ticket, then made her way to the platform where her train should be arriving and her friends waiting.

There was only a few other people sharing the platform space with her, and sadly none of them were the faces and forms she'd been expecting. There was an older woman, probably mid thirties with two younger children, a boy and girl hanging of her pant legs. Off to the left, there was an old lady feeding the birds and crooning softly to them. Aside from those four and some litter strewn on the pavement, she was alone.

"Figures," the brown haired girl mused quietly, "they went on ahead without me." So embroiled was she in her thoughts of abandonment that she did not notice someone approach from behind.

"So they left you out of the loop too?," questioned a quiet voice.

Keiko let out a shrill shriek as she whirled around; hand pulled back for one of her infamous slaps, only to be stopped short at who she found. She let out a sigh of relief when she found that it was Shizuru behind her, puffing contentedly on her cigarette.

"You plan on using that?," she uses her cigarette to indicate Keiko's still raised hand.

Keiko looks up at the offending appendage and quickly pulls it to her side giving a nervous laugh. "Uh no,… you just startled me is all." The other girl merely shrugged nonchalantly. "Hey..um, you wouldn't happen to know where everyone is would you?"

"Yeah they left out early; sometime last night I believe," she casually flicked the remnants of her cigarette to the side while pulling out a crumpled piece of paper from her pocket. The edges were wrinkled and slightly singed and the inked smeared in some places. It looked as if a fight had broken out over this scrap of paper.

Hey Sis,

Me and the gang are headin out tonight. See ya at Genkai's

Kazuma,

P.S .hey, could you make sure Keiko makes it to grandmas? Thanks!

Yusuke,

Keiko giggled softly as she pictured Yusuke and Kuwabara fighting over the pen to leave their respective messages. Keiko also felt a small flame of anger flare up inside of her at the same time, as the thought that once again Yusuke had left her to figure things out for herself crossed her mind.

She squashed it instantly, '_Well at least he left a note this time, maybe there's hope for him yet.'_

Shizuru had pulled out yet another smoke and had light up again, and was giving Keiko a cool stare.

"Well it's just the two of us, I guess," Keiko gave a small smile trying to feign indifference.

Shizuru noticed that the younger girl's smile never quite reached her eyes anymore. In fact, Shizuru wasn't sure that she'd ever seen a true smile grace her features, except for when Yusuke came back that day on the beach. '_The beach…'_ that had been a good day, and Keiko had been genuinely happy and light hearted that day.

Things went smoothly for a while after that; Keiko, Kurama and her little brother had finished up their last year in high school. Yusuke had even started taking night classes so he could get his high school diploma; but then it happened, the ex-spirit detective had gotten bored. Apparently schoolwork, training at Genkai's, running his own street side ramen stand and Keiko weren't enough to fill his time anymore.

While Keiko was busy preparing for college, Yusuke had been doing side jobs for Koenma. These jobs were all off the record of course, since Yusuke officially was still terminated from his job as detective to the Reikai. However this little fact didn't stop Koenma from slipping Yusuke a "missing" case file or two until he was able to find a suitable replacement.

The only problem with that was that Yusuke had promised Keiko that he'd never take another dangerous assignment from Koenma again, nor would he disappear to the Makai. Still, Yusuke being Yusuke, he had managed to break both promises in a mere six months after his return.

When Keiko found out, to say she was fed up with his antics was an understatement. In fact, in an uncharacteristic display of cold fury after quietly letting him explain himself, she gave him a scathing look that would stop Hiei's darkness dragon in its tracks and she walked out. She walked out without so much as uttering a word or looking back. In that moment it was clear to everyone, even the dimwit who stood staring after her, that Keiko Yukimura was tired and she wasn't putting up with it anymore.

'_That girl just hasn't smiled the same since she dumped Yusuke,'_ Shizuru shook her head, _'it's like she's missing something…..maybe if she found a new man?'_

Shizuru was pulled from her musings about Keiko as the train screeched to a stop in front of their platform. "Well, I guess we better get going," she stated; grabbing the younger girl's arm and dragging her onto the train.

Shizuru tossed away the butt of another cigarette before getting them both on the train. Both girls sat quietly in their compartment, preferring the comfortable silence to speech as both entertained private thoughts. Suddenly Keiko gave an unsure shake of her head and tried to square her shoulders as she looked up at Shizuru with a question in her eyes

Shizuru blinked; looking back at the girl's odd behavior holding her empty fingers to her lips, cursing the train for having a no smoking rule as the tension from Keiko rose another notch.

Shizuru reached out to her, "What is…" Keiko effectively cut her off "Shizuru; I know we're all staying the night at the compound, so I was thinking that once everyone's asleep, would you bring Botan and Yukina to my room? I have something that I want to discuss with all of you."

Keiko's words had come out in a rush, leaving the chain smoker in front of her at a loss for words. In fact all Shizuru could do was nod her acceptance as Keiko beat a hasty retreat, mumbling something about needing to find a bathroom.

In reality she wasn't the least bit surprised; she could feel it in the air, something big was being put into motion. She just never expected it to be coming her way or spurred on by Keiko; the kind hearted, level headed girl of all people. Somehow she knew, that after their midnight meeting tonight, things would never be the same for any of the girls involved.

"Well, this should be interesting," Shizuru said to an empty room, and once again wished for a cigarette.

It wasn't too long before the train came to their stop and both girls exited to an empty platform.

"What, they couldn't at least meet us at the station?" said Keiko with an annoyed tone of voice.

"Come on Keiko, cut the boys some slack. I mean they left us a note, and that alone probably killed my baby brother's daily supply of brain cells," Shizuru chuckled at her own joke, lighting up once again the second her feet left the train. "Now come on; we've got to get going, there's still a long walk ahead of us."

Keiko groaned at the mere thought of all the steps they had to climb just to get inside Genkai's land; I mean, forget even getting to the front door. Shizuru slapped her on the shoulder good naturedly and gave her an encouraging smile before lightly pushing her into motion.

The two chatted back and forth during the walk. Shizuru complained about the salon she worked at, the shallow girls she worked with and most importantly which customers were lousy tippers. She also talked about how her little brother had decided to major in law enforcement.

Keiko talked about life on campus, her professors, and how her pre-law classes were going. She also talked about her little hole in the wall of an apartment and how strange it was to be living on her own now. Also about how she was having a hard time adjusting to how quiet it was without the sounds of the ramen shop beneath her feet.

Half-way up the steps, the duo could already hear that the party was in full swing. Various kinds of music came blaring down to greet them as they climbed the stairs. The two girls sweat-dropped, as several unidentifiable objects went flying over their heads.

"Do we even want to know?" Shizuru asked as she opened her second pack of cigarettes for the day.

"Probably not Shizuru, probably not," Keiko answered.

Once they reached the door Keiko squared her shoulders and smoothed the wrinkles from her clothes, "Well, let's go see if we can help Genkai handle this rowdy bunch." Then Keiko, looking for the entire world like a solider that'd been sent to the front-lines, stepped through the door.

"Oh yeah, defiantly going to be interesting," Shizuru stated, flicking her smoke away before she too disappeared behind the door.

* * *

**Well I hope that you all like the start to my story, please read and review if you want more. **

****Walks Off Stage Right, Looking For Touya; Curtains Close****


	2. Encounters

****Curtains Rise, Enters Stage Left, This Time Holding A Microphone With A Whole Cast Of Stage Players Behind Her Frozen In Place****

**Well now that they've fixed the sound system I don't need that pesky megaphone anymore. Now it's time to introduce you to our wonderful cast of characters. Also I would like to give a shout out to those people that are helping to keep everyone in character as much as possible. **

**YOU GUYS ROCK!!!**

**Disclaimer: **Do I really have to spell it out for all of you??? Fine, if I must, I must. I do not at present, or past have any rights to Yu Yu Hakusho, but a girl can hope for the future right??

**Story:** The Yu Yu Girls Take Center Stage

**Chapter 2:** Encounters

**Characters:** Touya/Keiko

**Oh good, now that the formalities are over with, it's on with the show….**

* * *

'_Well, it looks like everyone is here now.'_ Genkai thought as she spied Keiko and then Shizuru come through the front door.

She slid her gaze away from the girls to survey the rest of the room. First she noticed Kurama sitting next to her, tea cup in hand. Genkai gave the kitsune a polite nod before taking a sip from her own clay cup.

"This is very good." She complimented him quietly.

She took another sip of the fox's special blend and let its robust and slightly spicy flavor enliven her senses. The former spirit merely murmured a quite thank you. Then they resumed their mutual contemplation of the room.

Next her eyes fell on the increasingly familiar scene that Kuwabara, Hiei and Yukina were making in the center of the room. The pint-sized fire youkai had placed one hand threateningly on his katana, while the oblivious boy got down in his face shouting insults. Of course, not to be shown-up by the human, Hiei was shouting right back with a vein visible in his forehead. The ice apparition was caught between the two as she tried in vain to diffuse the situation. Yukina shot Kurama a pleading look hoping he would take their spiky haired friend off her hands.

Genkai saw the fox set his cup down and move to stand. Satisfied that he would handle the situation, she let her aged eyes wander before settling on an unlikely group. Their resident blue haired grim reaper was huddled down with a small youkai boy by the name of Rinku. On the other side of the monkey child was the red haired ferry girl Hinageshi.

The energetic girl had been known to hang around the compound from time to time since the nasty incident concerning the Netherworld. She was usually a big help around the compound. That is until Botan puts in an appearance, then things tend to go slightly awry. Add in an immature demon child, well when that happens, Genkai makes sure to stock up on the Advil.

The three of them had been thick as thieves since the boy arrived, causing mischief and pulling pranks. Why, just the other night the three had laced everybody's bedding with itching powder; though Genkai managed to escape this prank, due to her sleeping with a barrier around her. No one had gotten any sleep that night, well…..expect for Genkai of course. Currently the "Terrible Trio," as Genkai had dubbed them, were snickering and whispering as they looked towards the last group of people in the room.

_'Troublemakers…'_ Genkai thought as she rolled her eyes in the direction of their amusement.

In fact; towards the back of the room, where the terrible trio was looking, was none other than Chuu, Jin the Wind Master, and Yusuke; smack dab between the two. It seemed they were mercilessly teasing him about something. She could only assume that it had something to do with his nasty break up with Keiko. You see, for a male demon to have a prospective mate walk out on _**him**_ is a rather embarrassing thing indeed.

_'Dimwit….' _Genkai thought as she observed them.

Genkai's eyes found the form of the latest demonic addition to her compound. Touya the Ice Master of the shinobi had arrived just this morning with Jin, asking her for sanctuary in the human world. Knowing how helpful the two had been in the past, Genkai had readily agreed. Currently he sat cross legged in the very back of the large room. He was obviously mediating, but how he could do so amidst the clamoring ruckus of this room was amazing to her.

_'Impressive…'_ She thought, as she turned her attention back to her tea.

***

Keiko stopped short as she took in the number of people in the room; eyes widening as she counted.

_'1, 2, 3………14!!'_ Keiko gasped, _'I thought that this was supposed to be a small gathering'_

Keiko couldn't help but giggle softly at the sight of Kurama dragging an indignant looking Hiei away from Kuwabara, who was being held back by Yukina with a light hand on his chest. She sighed in relief, her shoulders sagging briefly, seeing that the danger had passed. Kuwabara quickly forgot about Hiei as he dropped to his knee, taking Yukina's hands in his.

"Yukina, my love, I will protect you from his foul temper." his eyes shone like pools of sincerity.

Yukina blushed in a brilliant scarlet color. _'Kuwabara; your sweet, but I believe Kurama was protecting __**you**__.'_ The ice maiden thought to herself.

Keiko shook her head at the couple, wondering how much longer it would take for them to be together officially. Next she took in the state of the room. It was a mess; food was everywhere, crumbs littered the floor, whole pieces of pizza, chop sticks and other party debris covered the floor. She shook her head and sighed as she started to clean the room.

She'd made her way around the room twice and had filled two 30 gallon trash bags full of garbage. She'd started a load of miscellaneous laundry she'd found in the hallway. She also had served everyone in the room either snacks or tea. No one really seemed to even notice she was there; in fact the only people to even acknowledge her were Genkai and Yukina. She sighed, as this is the way that it had been since her separation from Yusuke; she seemed to have become….invisible. This feeling is one of many reasons why she had resolved to speak with the girls and then possibly Genkai.

A round of boisterous male laughter drew Keiko from her dark musings. Keiko turned her head and found herself lost in a pair of dark brown eyes; she felt as if a gaping hole had opened in her chest at the sight of him. Jin and Chuu were both laughing as they shoved the former spirit detective towards the unsuspecting Keiko.

"Go on mate, there be ur' sheila," Chuu called. "Aye boyou, get er' back" Jin chimed in; both were loud enough for the whole room to hear.

"…Um, hey…Keiko," Yusuke said, as he raked his fingers through his hair. "How are ya?"

Keiko hadn't spoken to him in months, his voice seemed to break the trance she was in, and she felt a pain blossom in her, pouring from the emptiness in her chest. She opened and closed her mouth trying to form a response, but her mouth had run dry. She finally managed to force her voice past the lump in her throat.

"Okay…I guess." She managed to keep her eyes from tearing as she spoke.

"Oh...Uh, that's good to hear." Keiko tugged nervously on the hem of her skirt.

They stared at each other awkwardly for a few moments. Yusuke was nervously shuffling his feet as he tried to think of something to say.

"Ya know, well, I was thinking that maybe we could…"

Yusuke didn't get a chance to finish his thought but was cut off by the shrill ringing of the washer, signaling the end of its cycle. Keiko used this to escape as she bowed politely, excusing herself and she rushed off.

Keiko breathed a sigh of relief as she leaned against the washer. She unloaded the clothes, switching it over to the dryer. Keiko slid to the floor, leaning against the dryer as her body soaked in the warmth provided by the machine. Her eyes had just slipped closed when a voice suddenly intruded on her solitude.

"Miss Keiko…?" a soft bell-like voice called to her.

Keiko looked up, startled but visibly relaxed as she found herself staring into Yukina's bright crimson eyes. For a split second she felt as if she was looking into Hiei's eyes. It was the depth of concern in Yukina's eyes that made it easy to tell them from the hard ruby eyes of the fire demon.

'_Is that a common eye color in the Makai….I wonder'_ Keiko shook her head ruefully as the ice apparition spoke.

"Miss Keiko," Yukina spoke more firmly as she kneeled next to the ningen girl, "Are you alright? You left the room so quickly."

"I'm fine Yukina, thank you for asking," Keiko gave Yukina a forced smile, trying to appear reassuring.

Yukina tentatively reached her hand out to the other girl's arm, unsure of how she would be received. When Keiko didn't flinch or pull away, Yukina settled herself down next to her. Not knowing what to say, she just sat next to Keiko leaning her head on her shoulder, giving her the quiet comfort of another person. Keiko leaned a bit into Yukina, taking what was silently offered gratefully. The ningen girl slowly drifted off to sleep like that.

***

She woke several hours later in a spare room at Genkai's. Her eyes slowly blinked open as she took in her surroundings. The room was sparse, to say the least; in the corner was a small wardrobe and she was laying on a twin sized futon. Keiko turned her head looking into the harsh glare of the clock next to the small lamp; the clock read 10:09. Keiko sat bolt upright.

'_Oh dear, I fell asleep'_ Keiko hurriedly threw her covers off standing up to look around the room.

She walked over to the sliding door and carefully opened it to look in the hall. The hallway itself was dark and oddly silent. Stepping through the door she took in the almost eerily quiet hallway, causing a shiver to race down her spine.

'_There's no way everyone's in bed by now; and even if they were, there's no way it'd be this quiet. I must just be in a different part of Genkai's home.'_ Keiko nodded briefly, satisfied that her logic was sound.

She went back into her little room and sat in the middle of the futon and attempted to organize her thoughts. Of course the second she tried, Yusuke managed to muscle his way to the fore front of her mind. First she tripped over their odd conversation from a few hours ago, which caused a pained tightening in her chest. Those few moments seemed to open the floodgates of her memory. Keiko found herself suddenly overwhelmed with images of the good times with Yusuke, even though most of those ended in a slap; some choice words from her and abject apologies from him. Keiko stood suddenly, and firmly pushed those thoughts from her mind.

'_No Keiko, that's a closed chapter in your life. All Yusuke can ever be now is a friend.' _The brunette squared her shoulders, _'A good, dear friend, but a friend nonetheless and nothing more.'_

She decided to go for a walk, hoping some fresh air would help her to clear her head. Keiko went over to the wardrobe, opening it hoping to find her winter coat. She let out an _'Eep'_ of surprise as she caught sight of herself in the mirror on the inside of the door. She was no longer wearing her clothes from earlier, but was wrapped securely in a flannel sleeping yukata. She fervently hoped one of the other girls had been the one who changed her clothes. Although, judging from the look of the floral patterned traditional robe, she was willing to bet money it had been Yukina.

Keiko sighed and resigned herself to not changing her clothes after eyeing the complicated looking knot holding the robe closed. She grabbed her winter coat, sliding it on without another thought. She also took her shoes, carrying them with her while stepping into the house slippers she found by the sliding door. Now that she was ready, she left the room and silently padded down the hallway, looking for a door that would lead her outside. Once she found one she quickly traded her slippers for sneakers, tucking the discarded footwear into a jacket pocket.

Keiko breathed the frigid air deeply into her lungs, her body shuddering with the effort and temperature shock. Once she adjusted to her new surroundings she started walking forward. Despite the lack of snow the ground was frozen and unyielding beneath her feet.

She let her feet blindly carry her across the grounds as she tried to organize the chaos her thoughts had become. Since this was impossible, she forced herself to focus on what she would say to the girls later tonight. She put all her energy into this for quite a while. So much so, that by the time she took in her surroundings, Keiko found herself to be far from the compounds main buildings.

In fact, with the buildings to her back, she found herself standing before a decent sized lake that was fed by a small river connected to the beach. It was cozily nestled up against a grove of lifeless trees. It was an eerie sight; the still glassy waters of the lake combined with the barren trees. What caught and held Keiko's attention the most was what appeared to be a weeping willow that hugged the lakes shore. Entranced, she walked forward till she was beneath the swaying whip like branches. It was such a contrast; this tree was lush, full of life, while everything else around her had been twisted and killed by the winters chill.

'_So beautiful,'_ was all Keiko could think as her eyes drank in the tranquility of nature in an otherwise perilous world.

She couldn't make out much of the tree in the dark of night, but she squinted, her eyes trying to take in as much as possible. She could see that each slender vine had almond shaped leaves marching up and down either side and every few feet or so on the vines was punctuated by white flowers with dark, almost inked tips that formed tightly closed buds. She gingerly ran her fingers over one of the buds, finding them to be soft as silk. Breathing a sigh of contentment, Keiko moved from the shelter of the tree to sit shore side and watch the waters.

With a quiet sort of idleness, she ran the tips of her fingers just beneath the frigid water's surface, humming softly. At that moment a bone chilling wind swirled around her, causing Keiko to shiver violently. She quickly brought her arms to her chest, burrowing down in the warmth of her coat. So intent was she on regaining warmth that she failed to notice the surface of the lake beginning to bubble and swell just a mere few feet from her. It wasn't until water began to soak through the soles of her shoes that she even looked up.

Looming above her, dripping, was a huge wall of running water. It was moving towards her as it sprouted arms with vicious looking claws for hands on either side, flinging water droplets through the air that peppered her face and neck, burning like acid when they hit her skin, causing her to cry out. Keiko tried to scramble backwards as the water in the lake began to slip away to reveal shiny blue scales underneath.

She managed to barely get out of the way as she dodged one of the clawed hands, but couldn't move fast enough as the second one side swiped her. The serrated tip catching her and ripping her clothes and skin, leaving her with a deep free flowing bloody gash down her side. The force of the blow sent her skidding back to the frozen ground, surely bruising her. At this point, she was too weak with blood loss to move. Keiko let out an earsplitting scream as the scaled beast loomed over her, once more preparing to strike her down.

'_I'm going to die,'_ was all she could think, as she looked up to witness not only the instrument of her death but also the very first snowfall of winter; the fat, white flakes were a sharp contrast to her coming demise.

* * *

****Grins Evilly** Yes, this is where I'm leaving off. If you want more you'll have to just wait patiently. Please read and review.**

****Bows Respectfully As She Exits Stage Right; The Curtain Closing Until Next Time****


	3. Interventions

**Any-who **Curtains rise revealing tonight's scene choice****

**Oh goodie, I'm finally back, with an update.**

**Disclaimer: **I have nothing witty to say this time; please refer to previous chapters.

**Story:** The Yu Yu Girls Take Center Stage

**Chapter 3:** Interventions

**Characters:** Touya/Keiko

* * *

Dried and dead foliage crunched almost noiselessly underfoot as he jogged. He continued moving forward at a steadily increasing pace as his breathing deepened to match. Touya embraced the soothing chill in the air; in fact, snow had just started to fall. He breathed deeply, expanding his lungs fully while enjoying the silence that encompassed the night, only to have it shattered as a shrill shriek pierced the darkness followed by a deafening roar. The ice shinobi immediately broke to a run so he could investigate the disturbance on Genkai's land.

The scene that greeted him was disturbing to say the least. A hulking beast of a water demon was poised over a young woman, ready to deal that final blow. Touya's demonic mind processed all of this in a matter of milliseconds, less than half the time it would have taken a ningen's. He sprinted forward until his feet touched the water's edge. Releasing a small amount of his youki, he froze the entirety of the pond and the demon along with it.

Touya slid across the ice to look in on the girl after quickly making sure his unknowing opponent was a non-threat. He scented the air lightly; this told him two things, one the girl was human and two, she was gravely injured. The sight of her with her blood soaking into the newly fallen snow made something inside him tighten painfully. However he didn't have the time to contemplate this, more importantly she didn't have the time.

Touya methodically removed the knot on the girl's yukata. Removing his sash, he used it to staunch the blood flow from her side. A soft gasp drew his attention. Looking over, he locked gazes. Her deep brown eyes were barely open and hazy with blood loss.

_"She is,…was… the detectives mate to be,"_ Touya saw a strength in her eyes that rivaled the weakness of her race, even as her eyes closed unwillingly and oblivion claimed her, they shone.

Touya proceed to quickly rip his bloodied sash into strips, applying them as a tight compression dressing. Scooping her up into his arms, he started jogging at a brisk pace towards the main compound where the party was still in full swing. A light breeze blew giving him a strong whiff of Keiko's blood. Touya arched his neck to take in the sweet, very human scent, but there was something that was…off about it. There was something bitter and sharp underlying it.

"Poison," Touya said aloud, breaking into an all out run.

Within seconds the main compound came into view. Clutching Keiko closer to him, he burst through the doors running to the room where the party was raging. All the while, he had been calling to the red headed fox spirit. Everyone's head turned to stare as Touya skidded to a stop just inside the room. Keiko was now shaking and feverish in his arms her skin had grown pale and was turning an unhealthy shade of blue.

"Keiko!" Kuwabara was the first one to react. "What happened to Keiko?"

Kuwabara was also the first to accuse, "What'd you do to her?" He demanded, rolling up his shirt sleeves and fisting his hands.

"I did nothing, I also have no time for you," Touya sidestepped the loud mouthed human.

Kurama had just made his way to the front of the crowd. Both he and Jin moved towards Touya, the latter taking a place at his side. Kurama instantly scented the air with his enhanced, although still human, senses honing in on the poison and mentally identifying it. He reached back to pull a seed from his hair while quickly assessing her.

"Here, bring her over here," Kurama ordered, indicating a nearby couch where Shizuru was already viciously evicting its former occupants.

By the time Touya had carefully settled the girl on the cushions, Kurama had a fully grown plant in his hand. The plant itself was rather ordinary looking; it appeared to be a common fern until one encountered the hidden parasitic spikes held in the leaves. The few in the room who were well aware of what the plant was, gasped at the seriousness of it all.

After breaking off a handful of the leaves, Kurama quickly ripped off the dressing Touya had applied. As the scent of fresh yet tainted human blood filled the room, he placed the leaves into her open wound. The room pulsed with tension as the leaves seemed to come to life and bury themselves deep into her circulatory system. Kurama directed the leaves and using their parasitic tendencies to safely remove the poison.

Yukina was working her way through the crowd now as well. She was one of the few to be well aware of how the plant that Kurama grew worked. She gently eased her way between the very tense ice master and Kurama.

"Let me re-dress her wounds, it will be a few hours before the plant can nullify the poison and the leaves won't need to be removed right away," Yukina spoke softly.

Kurama nodded to her, "Yes that would be good. After though, we should clear the room so she can properly rest."

"Yes, moving her now would be unwise," Yukina agreed.

However, so caught up was everyone in the unfolding scene that no one heeded Kurama's veiled order.

"FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO WEREN'T LISTENING**,** THAT MEANS SCRAM!"

After Shizuru put her two cents in, the room quickly cleared, except for the fact that she had to drag her little brother out by the back of his shirt as he protested wildly about leaving Yukina alone. Even Jin went quietly leaving only Kurama, Touya, Yukina and Keiko in the room.

Yukina set herself to the task of bandaging Keiko's side. She also did the best she could to re-tie the bloodied yukata, worrying after Keiko's modesty now that the worst was over. By the time she was done, Keiko's temperature had started to steadily normalize. Although she was still pale, she was no longer turning blue.

* * *

"Why did we have to do all this? Yusuke grumbled as he finished tying the bags to the end of Botan's oar.

**THWACK!**

"Stop complaining! If you didn't complain so much, we'd be back by now."

Botan replied tartly holding onto the folded fan she'd struck him with.

"Alright, alright, I'm ready, geez."

"All aboard!" Botan called out cheerily as she slid onto her oar.

Looking to Yusuke who just stared with evident frustration at the bags he had to still carry, mad at the fact that everyone rushed him at the door to buy their trinkets and snacks. With all the bags, he couldn't run back to the compound for fear that the flimsy plastic of the bags wouldn't withstand such high speed. This would leave him with the untimely task of walking back to the compound carrying everything in his arms, if it could all fit.

Yusuke's head snapped up when he heard Botan's call, "Well come on slow poke." Gesturing to her oar, "I know you can't carry all of those bags back without destroying them in the process."

"So you want me to ride back on that, with you?"

"Bingo!" Botan exclaimed.

"No thanks, I'll just walk." He turned to leave, "See ya in the morning."

"What was that? Someone's a little scaredy cat! Meow! Meow!" as Botan did her famous cat impression.

"AFRAID? I'm Afraid?" as he stared dubiously at the oar in question.

Grabbing his arm, she pulled him towards her. This forced him to throw his leg over the side or risk toppling them both.

"Oww! Hey, what's the big idea?"

Completely ignoring his protests, she easily settled his hands on her waist.

"Now hold on tight, here we go!"

"Whoa, wait! Hold on…"

Botan rushed into the sky before Yusuke could finish his protest. His slicked back hair could be seen cautiously looking over the side of the oar and down toward the ground.

"Uh… Botan, aren't we getting kinda high?"

"Well we've got to at least clear the tree line silly."

She pulled the oar into a steeper incline, forcing Yusuke to hold on tighter. Within moments they leveled out, though the grocery bags were now even more compressed at the back of the oar which made the tail end drag considerably. Botan sighed under her breath as she realized Yusuke's closeness, a light blush coloring her cheeks. They flew in silence, each entertaining their separate thoughts.

_"He just hasn't been the same,"_ the blue haired girl thought as she considered her traveling companion. The ex-spirit detective was usually loud and hot headed, tempered with the new goals and dreams he had for his and Keiko's life.

However, since the breakup, he was a completely different person…err… demon. Yusuke was now quiet and even withdrawn. He'd stopped attending night classes for his high school diploma and Kuwabara was even working part-time at the ramen stand. So far his cooking hadn't killed anybody. Yusuke was now devoting his life almost solely to his training and to the few cases Koenma slid his way.

That was another problem. Each case he took was more dangerous than the last. He wasn't even taking Hiei or Kurama with him unless forced. It was almost as if Yusuke was depressed and sinking deeper and deeper into it.

Part of Botan, a sad and jealous part, wanted to blame Keiko solely for all of this; however, she knew that wasn't fair and chose not to think about it. Looking surreptitiously over her shoulder, she watched Yusuke as he stared off into the distance. As she watched him, she vowed then and there to break him from the abyss he had slipped into.

"Hey look, the compound's coming into view," Yusuke's arm shot over her shoulder, brushing against her cheek as he pointed out the obvious.

Botan shivered and nodded in response. She circled the compound once, twice, thrice as she slowly spiraled to the ground. As she dismounted, she felt a heavy tension fall over her. It seemed Yusuke sensed it as well since his stance instantly became guarded, pulling Botan behind him as he stalked forward.

As he walked through the door, he wasn't sure what would be waiting but he didn't expect what he found. Almost everyone was waiting in the foyer. Some were sleeping, in fact it seemed as if a couple were even praying. One thing was for sure though, they all seemed to be waiting for something and Yusuke didn't think it was marble pop or sake.

"Hey guys, I got the goods." He tried for cheerfulness

A few looked up and made eye contact but most just looked away, eyes fixated on the floor or the door. Yusuke took several steps towards the far door. It was Jin who stopped him.

"Hold on there boyo, ya don't be wanten to go in there just now."

"What's going on Jin?" Yusuke demanded.

The wind master's solemn eyes met his, "It be yur lass, she…"Jin didn't even get a chance to finish before Yusuke was through the door.

"Keiko!" was the only word that passed his lips as he took in the horrifying scene before him.

* * *

**Please read and review. **Curtains draw closed****


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